Dr Paul Allen

In 1 Kings 11, the Bible does not depict Solomon as the sort of person to advise you on love and marriage. Author: Iain Duguid “The Bible does not depict Solomon as the sort of person to whom you should be going for relationship advice.” Solomon had deep patterns of sin and failure in his life — perhaps especially in the realm of his sexuality. Deuteronomy 17:17 forbade the king from multiplying wives, lest they turn his heart away from the Lord . Yet Solomon acquired no fewer than one thousand wives and concubines ( 1 Kings 11:3 ). In the ancient world, polygamy was a way to flaunt your wealth, ensure many offspring, and cement strategic alliances. On a human level, those reasons seemed wise, designed to give security to the royal house. But acquiring one thousand lovers is a sign of a heart determined to be self-sufficient and independent of God . A Flaming Fire Solomon paid a heavy price for ignoring what God had said in favor of human wisdom. Like Solomon, we ...

… give to Your servant an understanding heart ( 1 Kings 3 :9). Some scholars maintain that Solomon did not write Ecclesiastes. They base their hypothesis on such things as differences in style from Solomon’s other writings, and vocabulary of a supposed later origin. Bridges disagreed and considered the evidence against Solomon’s authorship to be shallow and inconsistent with the claims of Scripture: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem .” Bridges did not believe that some writer of a later era had passed off his own words under the name of “son of David.” Most expositors agree that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes in his later years. Unlike prophecies and revelation that come in an instant, through a dream or vision, wisdom is gained through experience. God taught Solomon wisdom in the school of life, and Ecclesiastes is a summary of that instruction. Through the hardships and pleasures of life, Solomon learned that true happiness does not consist in the kno...

All of the authors of the books of the Old Testament should be classified as prophets. That term refers to messengers, and that is exactly what these authors were doing—delivering the message of God to the people of God. Some books specifically name the author, other books imply or point to a person as the author, and still other books are anonymous. One of the most important issues of authorship regards the Pentateuch , the first five books of the Old Testament. The traditional view is that Moses is the author of these books. This has been held by Jews since the Pentateuch was written and by Christians since the first century.  Even though the Pentateuch itself does not directly state that Moses is the author, there is evidence that indicates this is the case. For example, Moses did receive many of the laws recorded in these books directly from God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19ff.). Also, several books begin with the statement that God spoke to Moses and that Moses was to pass...

“ God that made the world . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” ( Acts  17:24 , 26)   The foundation for global conflict lies in God’s promise to Abraham : “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” ( Genesis 12:2-3 ). The son of promise (Isaac) and the son of the bondwoman (Ishmael) are at the crux of the issue ( Galatians 4:22-31 ). In eternity’s eyes, all the petty politics and power plays of the nations are “dust of the balance” ( Isaiah 40:15 ).   Anyone familiar with biblical history will know that God dealt with the nations of the world as tools of influence, reward, and punishment to Israel . After Abraham generated the ...

A while ago I was reading Matthew 6:25 -34 walking through this passage, tracing an argument and noticing important components. Here are some observations that came out of our discussion: 1.  The “therefore” points back to 6:19-23, which discusses money.   In 6:19-21 Jesus warns his audience against pursuing earthly treasure and admonishes them to pursue heavenly treasure (in other words, chase righteousness instead of riches).  In 6:22-23 Jesus warns his audience about the dangers of covetousness, and in  6:24  Jesus drops the hammer on his audience and informs them that people who live for money  cannot  live for God ; it’s one or the other. So, when Jesus says “therefore I tell you…”, the instruction that follows is not occurring in a vacuum.  Jesus talks about two  contrary  ways of living involving money, and now he continues on along that same track with a different topic. 2.  Matthew 6:25-34 starts ...

Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, from the Bible Historiale. Den Haag, MMW, 10 B 23 165r (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” ( Amos 3:3 ) Amos was a prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II (son of Joash), who ruled the northern ten tribes of Israel from 825 to 784 B.C. ( 2 Kings14:23 ). Some 100 years earlier, Jeroboam I (son of Nebat) had led a rebellion against the son of Solomon and started the northern nation of Israel ( 1 Kings 12 ). In order to keep his people from returning to Jerusalem , Jeroboam I “made Israel to sin” ( 1 Kings 12:30 ; 16:26; etc) by developing a “new” religion centered on an image of a golden calf with idol temples in Bethel and Dan ( 1 Kings 12:28-29 ). Those northern tribes never did return to the worship of Jehovah but “sinned against the LORD,” and Israel “feared other gods” ( 2 Kings 17:7 ). The list of their sins is long and grevious in God’s sight. They “did secretly those things that were not right...

Alva J. McClain’s book The Greatness of the Kingdom , provides an exhaustive look at the concept of “the kingdom” throughout the entire Bible. When Jesus arrived in Matthew 2:2, he was called “King of the Jews” and in 3:2 his initial message was “repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”, but the people seemed to know what he was talking about. They thought that Jesus was the promised king who would establish a promised kingdom, and nobody stopped him and said “hang on a second! What in the world are you talking about? Kingdom? What kingdom?”. In the gospel of Matthew , the “gospel” that Jesus proclaimed was the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14). That was the “good news” that Jesus brought to his listeners. What was the kingdom promises in the OT? Do we treat the New Testament separately from the specific kingdom parables in the gospels? The “kingdom” in the Bible isn’t a comprehensive explanation of the concept, but rather simply the term “kingdom”. Thi...